Capital Commitment and Illiquidity in Corporate Bonds

We study trading costs and dealer behavior in U.S. corporate bond markets from 2006 to 2016. Despite a temporary spike during the financial crisis, average trade execution costs have not increased notably over time. However, dealer capital commitment, turnover, block trade frequency, and average trade size decreased during the financial crisis and thereafter. These declines are attributable to bank‐affiliated dealers, as nonbank dealers have increased their market commitment. Our evidence indicates that liquidity provision in the corporate bond markets is evolving away from the commitment of bank‐affiliated dealer capital to absorb customer imbalances, and that postcrisis banking regulations likely contribute.     

Self‐Selection and the Forecasting Abilities of Female Equity Analysts

This paper investigates whether there are systematic differences between the forecasting style and abilities of female and male analysts, and whether market participants recognize these differences. My key conjecture is that only female analysts with superior forecasting abilities enter the profession due to a perception of discrimination in the analyst labor market. Consistent with this conjecture, I find that female analysts issue bolder and more accurate forecasts and their accuracy is higher in market segments in which their concentration is lower. Further, the stock market participants are aware of the male–female skill differences. They respond more strongly to the forecast revisions by female analysts even though those analysts get less media coverage. The short‐term market reaction is incomplete, however, because it is followed by a strong post‐revision drift. The perception of abilities is similar in the analyst labor market, where female analysts are more likely to move up to high‐status brokerage firms, while their downward career mobility is lower. Collectively, these results indicate that female analysts have better‐than‐average skill due to self‐selection and market participants are at least partially able to recognize their superior abilities.     

A WARM EMBRACE OR THE COLD SHOULDER? WAGE AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES IN ETHNIC ENCLAVES

This paper examines how immigrant enclaves influence labor market outcomes. We examine the effect of variation in ethnic concentration across counties and county subdivisions on both immigrant earnings and employment using the non‐public use, 1‐in‐6 sample of the 2000 U.S. Census. We find that there is heterogeneity in enclave impacts by ethnic group and skill composition of the enclave. While some groups tend to suffer from lower wages and employment propensities when residing in areas with larger ethnic concentrations, others have higher wages and improved employment opportunities in enclaves. (JEL J61, J15, R23)     

Regulating services in poverty-ecosystems dynamics： evidences from South Asia

Valuation of ecosystem services has been sought as effective tools that enable the decision makers in designing the cost effective response policies for management of ecosystems towards alleviating the poverty especially in economically poor regions like South Asia. Various directions and linkages between poverty and degradation of ecosystem and reduced flow of ecosystem services can better be understood if the regulating services like hydrological flow and carbon sequestration by forest, and nutrient cycling and bioremediation： by wetlandv can be captured in monetary unit. South Asian Countries including India. Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the hotspots of poverty where poor depend upon various ecosystem services for their livelihoods and allocation of resource for conservation of ecosystems would have additional merit if regulating services are captured and internalized into the pubtic policy.The paperfirst raises problematic issues in valuation of regulatig ecosystem services, and attempts to link it withthe dependence of poor. Second, complexities of poverty-ecosystem dynamics are discussed. Thirdly, the possible in-tervention to achieve poverty alleviation goal is analyzed with the help of some examples from accounting and valua-tion of regulating services of lndian forest. Finally, the paper suggests that greater attention is needed to do credibleand better valuation of regulating Services so that insight from these ean be used in understanding the impact of degradation of ecosysterns On poor people.     

The Decline of Secured Debt

The share of secured debt issued (as a fraction of total corporate debt) declined steadily in the United States over the twentieth century. This stems partly from financial development giving creditors greater confidence that high-quality borrowers will respect their claims even if creditors do not obtain security upfront. Consequently, such borrowers prefer retaining financial flexibility by not giving security up front. Instead, security is given contingently—when a firm approaches distress. This also explains why, superimposed on the secular decline, the share of secured debt issued is countercyclical.     

Has International Trade in Saving Improved US Economic Welfare?

Over the past decade international policy-makers have perceived the current account deficit of the world's largest foreign borrower economy, the United States, as a threat to global economic and financial stability. Yet, by bridging the US domestic saving-investment gap, capital inflow that matched the huge US current account deficit also enabled a faster rate of domestic capital accumulation than home saving alone would have permitted. Consistent with the theory of international capital movements, this study identifies and compares the respective contributions of domestic and foreign saving to US gross domestic product per worker over the two decades prior to the onset of the US banking crisis. By revealing that foreign borrowing contributed significantly to raising US output and hence living standards over this period, it adds a new dimension to the debate about global imbalances.     

Diffusion of Management Accounting Practices in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries*

This study examines how management accounting practices (MAPs) have been adopted and diffused by publicly listed firms in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The results of our survey show that the adoption rates for MAPs in the area of cost management and strategy are low while those in the area of performance measurement are moderate. Overall, the respondents favorably perceived their success in implementing MAPs. Power and politics, not economic (or cost–benefit) reasons, were considered to be the most influential reasons for nonadoption of MAPs. The results provide partial support to the view that there is a global convergence of management accounting system designs and ideas and also indicate that the role of cultural differences is diminishing over time.     

FINANCIAL CONDITIONS AND FISCAL PERFORMANCE IN EMERGING MARKETS

Various effects of rising integration of emerging markets into the global capital markets have been studied, yet not its potentially significant fiscal implications. This article argues that larger external financing implies a rising pass-through from external financial conditions to public finances. It contributes to the literature on financial globalization as well as to the one on measuring fiscal performance. It suggests a framework for analyzing the effects of external financial conditions on fiscal performance and applies it in two case studies to 40 emerging markets. The results suggest that ignoring financial conditions can entail misleading assessments of underlying fiscal performance. ( JEL F3, H5, H6)     

Contracts in the payments for ecosystem services： the case of bioprospecting

We examine the economics of royalties in bioprospecting contracts between a pharmaceutical and genetic resource supplier （local）, with an eve to understanding the relative advantages of indexing royalty, payments to gross revenue or net revenue. We show a risk-averse firm facing only production or only cost risks will index royalties to net revenue. When facing both types of risk the choice of royalty type depends on the relative magnitudes of the production and cost risk. In each case, the risk-averse firm chooses the royalty-type that shifts as much risk as possible to the local. Wheat the local is risk neutral the pharmaceutical＇s and local＇s preferences are compatible.If the local is risk averse and there is only one type of risk, it will prefer a gross revenue royalty, and shift as much risk as possible to the firm： here the local and firm preferences are compatible only ifthe firm is risk-neutral. Lastly we show if the firm sets the terms of the contract and both agents are risk averse, the.firm will not likely volunteer to implement the socially optimal royalty arrangement as it prefers to shift as much risk to the loeal, who now also prefers a more certain return, This last outcome is at the heart of the benefit sharing discussionand suggests if risk sharing and equity are a concern in benefit sharing, then the choice of rcyalty type can be an important part of negotiations between pharmaceuticals and locals for the phytochemical from nature for new drug discovery.     

Internationalization of Indian Enterprises: Patterns,Strategies, Ownership Advantages,and Implications*

The recent spate of large cross‐border acquisitions – for example, Tata Steel–Corus, Hindalco–Novelis, and Tata Motors–Jaguar/Land Rover – and greenfield investments by Indian companies have helped in focusing attention on the emergence of new corporate players on the global scene. India's emergence as a source of foreign direct investment outflows is impressive for its level of development. It is argued that the destinations, sectoral composition, motivations, and entry strategies of Indian investments have been changing with magnitudes. This paper examines the sources of Indian companies’ ownership advantages and trends, patterns, and implications. It has been argued that the source of their ownership or competitive advantage lies in their accumulation of skills for managing large multilocation operations across diverse cultures in India and in their ability to deliver value for money with their “frugal engineering skills” honed up while catering to the larger part of income pyramid in India.